[ G.R. No. 95336. July 12, 1991 ] 276 Phil. 188
EN BANC
[ G.R. No. 95336. July 12, 1991 ]
JUAN GARCIA RIVERA, PETITIONER, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND JUAN MITRE GARCIA II, RESPONDENTS. R E S O L U T I O N
PADILLA, J.:
Petitioner Juan Garcia Rivera and private respondent Juan Mitre Garcia II were candidates for the position of Mayor of Guinobatan, Albay, during the local elections in January 1988. The Municipal Board of Canvassers proclaimed Rivera as the duly elected Mayor by a majority of ten (10) votes.
On 26 January 1988, Garcia filed an election protest with the Regional Trial Court, Legazpi City, docketed as Case No. 01-88. After due hearing, and upon considering the report of a Revision Committee it had earlier created, the trial court rendered its verdict on 9 September 1989, finding Garcia to have obtained 6,376 votes as against Rivera’s 6,222.
Rivera appealed to the COMELEC. Through its First Division, the COMELEC sustained with modification the appealed judgment of the Regional Trial Court, as follows:
“1. Affirming the Trial court’s annulment of the Board of Canvasser’s proclamation of Protestee-Appellant Juan G. Rivera as the duly elected Municipal Mayor,
2. Declaring Protestant-Appellee Juan Mitre Garcia II as the duly elected Municipal Mayor of Guinobatan, Albay, by a majority of ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THREE (153) votes over Protestee-Appellant Juan G. Rivera instead of a plurality of ONE HUNDRED FIFTY FOUR (154) votes; and
3. Protestee-Appellant Juan Garcia Rivera is hereby directed to turn over the Office of the Municipal Mayor to Protestant-Appellee Juan Mitre Garcia II.
x x x x x x x x x”
Rivera’s motion for reconsideration was acted upon by the COMELEC en banc. In its per curiam decision, dated 6 September 1990, the COMELEC denied the motion and re-affirmed the decision of its First Division declaring Garcia as the duly elected Mayor of Guinobatan, Albay but with a winning margin of one hundred twenty-three (123) votes over Rivera.
Garcia commenced to discharge the duties and functions of Mayor of Guinobatan on 10 October 1990, by virtue of a writ of execution implementing the COMELEC decision of 6 September 1990. He continued as mayor until 10 November 1990 when he was served notice of this Court’s temporary restraining order, issued upon Rivera’s motion.
Rivera filed the present petition on 5 October 1990 seeking annulment of the COMELEC en banc decision rendered in favor of respondent Garcia. He also prayed for the issuance of an order restraining the implementation of the said judgment, arguing that the same had not yet become final and executory as of the time this petition was filed. He cites Article IX-C, Section 2, Par. (2) of the 1987 Constitution, in relation to Part VII, Rule 39, Section 1 of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure. He also contends that since the COMELEC decision of 6 September 1990 has not yet become final and executory, the COMELEC has no authority to issue the assailed order and writ of execution. Petitioner maintains further that he has a period of thirty (30) days from 6 September 1990 or until 6 October 1990 within which to elevate the COMELEC decision, on certiorari, to this Court, pursuant to Section 1, Rule 39 of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure. He submits that the questioned COMELEC decision is not one that became final and executory unless restrained by this Court as provided under Section 3, Rule 39 of the COMELEC Rules, as said rule applies only to “decisions in pre-proclamation cases and petitions to deny due course or to disqualify a candidate, and postpone or suspend elections.”
Lastly, according to petitioner, Section 13(a) of Rule 18 (finality of Comelec decisions or resolutions) and Section 1 of Rule 39 (review by the Supreme Court of Comelec decisions, orders and rulings) of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure, should be read in the context of Section 7, Article IX-A of the Constitution (Supreme Court authority to review on certiorari a Comelec decision, order or ruling).
Upon the other hand, respondent Garcia contends that:
The Constitution declares the decisions of the COMELEC on election contests involving elective municipal and barangay officials to be final, executory and not appealable (Article IX-C, Sec. 2, par. (2), second sentence, 1987 Constitution).
In an earlier petition for certiorari filed by Rivera with this Court, docketed as G.R. No. 87046, charging the Regional Trial Court of grave abuse of discretion in Case No. 01-88, wherein the same issue now raised in this petition was raised by Rivera, this Court dismissed the petition for lack of merit on 7 March 1989.
The supplemental ground raised by petitioner Rivera that the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion “by not excluding from the total votes of Garcia at least ten (10) votes which were misappreciated in Garcia’s favor, outside of those objected votes already ruled upon by the COMELEC” does not deserve any consideration. If true, it is an error in judgment, correctible by appeal, not by a petition for certiorari pursuant to Rule 65, Sec. 1, of the Rules of Court.
The environmental facts of this petition are similar to those in the Galido case (G.R. No. 95346, decided 18 January 1991). The issue of whether the decisions of the COMELEC in election contests involving elective municipal and barangay officials, being final and executory and not appealable, preclude the filing of a special civil action of certiorari, was decided in the said Galido case. The Court held:
“Under Article IX (A), Section 7 of the Constitution, which petitioner cites in support of this petition, it is stated: ‘(U)nless otherwise provided by the Constitution or by law, any decision, order, or ruling of each (Constitutional) Commission may be brought to the Supreme Court on certiorari by the aggrieved party within thirty days from receipt of a copy thereof.’
On the other hand, private respondent relies on Article IX, (C), Section 2 (2), paragraph 2 of the Constitution which provides that decisions, final orders, or rulings of the Commission on Elections in contests involving elective municipal and barangay offices shall be final, executory and not appealable. (Emphasis supplied)
We resolve this issue in favor of the petitioner. The fact that decisions, final orders or rulings of the Commission on Elections in contests involving elective municipal and barangay offices are final, executory and not appealable, does not preclude a recourse to this Court by way of a special civil action of certiorari. The proceedings in the Constitutional Commission on this matter are enlightening. Thus -
‘MR. FOZ. So, the amendment is to delete the word “inappealable.”
MR. REGALADO. Before that, on page 26, line 26, we should have a transposition because decisions are always orders. So, it should read: “However, decisions, final orders or rulings,” to distinguish them from interlocutory orders, “… of the Commission on Elections on municipal and barangay officials shall be final and IMMEDIATELY executory.”
That would be my proposed amendment.
MR. FOZ. Accepted, Mr. Presiding Officer.
MR. REGALADO. It is understood, however, that while these decisions with respect to barangay and municipal officials are final and immediately executory and, therefore, not appealable, that does not rule out the possibility of an original special civil action for certiorari, prohibition, or mandamus, as the case may be, under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court.
MR. FOZ. That is understood, Mr. Presiding Officer.
MR. REGALADO. At least it is on record.
Thank you, Mr. Presiding Officer.’”
Earlier, the Court had occasion to resolve the same issue in the case of Flores vs. COMELEC (G.R. No. 89604, 20 April 1990) where the Court stated:
“Obviously, the provision of Article IX-C, Section 2(2) of the Constitution that ‘decisions, final orders, or rulings of the Commission on election contests involving elective municipal and barangay offices shall be final, executory, and not appealable’ applies only to questions of fact and not of law. That provision was not intended to divest the Supreme Court of its authority to resolve questions of law as inherent in the judicial power conferred upon it by the Constitution. We eschew a literal reading of that provision that would contradict such authority.”
Actually, the main thrust of the present petition for certiorari is that the respondent COMELEC en banc committed grave abuse of discretion when it affirmed the decision of its First Division, promulgated on 2 May 1990, annulling the proclamation of the petitioner as the duly elected Mayor of Guinobatan, Albay and when it did not exclude from the total votes of Garcia at least ten (10) votes which were allegedly misappreciated in Garcia’s favor.
We have closely scrutinized the challenged COMELEC decision and find that the said decision was not arrived at capriciously or whimsically by respondent COMELEC. A painstaking re-evaluation of the questioned 67 ballots was made by the COMELEC en banc. In fact, fourteen (14) ballots originally adjudicated in Garcia’s favor were overruled by the Commission en banc, thus reducing the number of votes in his favor to 894 votes out of the 2,445 contested ballots. On the other hand, 16 ballots were added in Rivera’s favor, thus increasing the votes in his favor to 1,087 votes.
Moreover, the appreciation and re-evaluation of ballots are factual determinations. It is settled that in a petition for certiorari, findings of fact of administrative bodies are final unless grave abuse of discretion has marred such factual determinations. We find none in this case.
ACCORDINGLY, the Court resolved to DISMISS the petition. The temporary restraining order issued on 20 November 1990 is hereby LIFTED.
SO ORDERED.
Fernan, C.J., Melencio-Herrera, Cruz, Paras, Feliciano, Bidin, and Griño-Aquino, JJ., concur. Narvasa , J., see dissent. Gutierrez, Jr. and Davide, Jr., JJ., join Justice Narvasa in his dissent. Regalado, J., see concurring opinion. Sarmiento, J., no part, petitioner’s counsel is a member of his former law firm. Medialdea, J., no part, petitioner’s counsel is the law firm of his son. Gancayco, J., on leave.